Pants on the ground, pants on the ground.The inside cover and page 1 of the current issue of TIME Magazine are an ad for Seroquel XR, a prescription drug for bipolar depression. Pages 2,3,4 and 5 are full of tiny print covering all the side effects, adverse reactions, contra-indications and other horrible things associated with this wonder of modern medicine.
Six pages at the front of the news mag with a circulation of 3.4 million per week, the largest in its class, can't be cheap. That says interesting things about the manufacturer, AstraZeneca, the profit margins in the drug trade and the number of people being diagnosed with bipolar depression.
I got a lot done today. The entire morning was spent in 1 Tim. 1:12-17 and writing Sunday's sermon. This kind of sermon is not my forte, thus requiring extra prayer and rumination.
Chores around the house this afternoon, including some shelving in the master closet, a thorough cleaning of the dining room and a little work on Gerta. Throw in an up-tempo run and an early bedtime is in my future.
This is definitely not PC, but watching the coverage of the Haiti crisis has me wondering. In a natural disaster are the poor more likely to engage in illegal activity - looting and rioting - than the middle class or wealthy? We saw that kind of behavior after Hurricane Katrina in the lower wards of New Orleans. (But not after the tsunami of 2004.) But I don't recall hearing about any unlawful activity after the destruction of the fires in So. Cal. or the flooding along the Mississippi River several years back.
IF (!) rioting and theft are more common among the poor after a natural disaster I can think of several potential reasons. The poor, when they lose everything, realize their chances of getting anything back are almost zero. The Haitian poor don't have insurance for rebuilding and many don't have jobs to get them on the road back. The may view themselves, with some justification, as disenfranchised and less likely to get support from the govt. A longstanding sense of victimization may drive them to a kind of revenge.
I'm not saying any of this is correct or that it justifies the lawlessness. I don't know enough to understand the dynamics and crime is crime, warranting the same punishment regardless of the economic level. I just got to thinking about the contrast today.
BIG news here: there's a chance of rain every day next week. The local broadcasts are all abuzz over the forecast. In Seattle this time of year they get excited if they get a day of clear, sunny skies.
A Republican winning the seat held by Sen. Kennedy in the special election on the 19th? Looks like it could happen, and that outcome would seriously mess up the Dems health care bill.
I've crashed. Time for a snack and then bed.
Six pages at the front of the news mag with a circulation of 3.4 million per week, the largest in its class, can't be cheap. That says interesting things about the manufacturer, AstraZeneca, the profit margins in the drug trade and the number of people being diagnosed with bipolar depression.
I got a lot done today. The entire morning was spent in 1 Tim. 1:12-17 and writing Sunday's sermon. This kind of sermon is not my forte, thus requiring extra prayer and rumination.
Chores around the house this afternoon, including some shelving in the master closet, a thorough cleaning of the dining room and a little work on Gerta. Throw in an up-tempo run and an early bedtime is in my future.
This is definitely not PC, but watching the coverage of the Haiti crisis has me wondering. In a natural disaster are the poor more likely to engage in illegal activity - looting and rioting - than the middle class or wealthy? We saw that kind of behavior after Hurricane Katrina in the lower wards of New Orleans. (But not after the tsunami of 2004.) But I don't recall hearing about any unlawful activity after the destruction of the fires in So. Cal. or the flooding along the Mississippi River several years back.
IF (!) rioting and theft are more common among the poor after a natural disaster I can think of several potential reasons. The poor, when they lose everything, realize their chances of getting anything back are almost zero. The Haitian poor don't have insurance for rebuilding and many don't have jobs to get them on the road back. The may view themselves, with some justification, as disenfranchised and less likely to get support from the govt. A longstanding sense of victimization may drive them to a kind of revenge.
I'm not saying any of this is correct or that it justifies the lawlessness. I don't know enough to understand the dynamics and crime is crime, warranting the same punishment regardless of the economic level. I just got to thinking about the contrast today.
BIG news here: there's a chance of rain every day next week. The local broadcasts are all abuzz over the forecast. In Seattle this time of year they get excited if they get a day of clear, sunny skies.
A Republican winning the seat held by Sen. Kennedy in the special election on the 19th? Looks like it could happen, and that outcome would seriously mess up the Dems health care bill.
I've crashed. Time for a snack and then bed.
1 comment:
No rain Sunday!! - Don't you go jinxing race day
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